Sick Day
by Luna Maria Boulevardes
Summary: Starfire’s sick, but the boys still need to go grocery shopping. So now Raven must watch Starfire, who is delirious and beginning to weird her poor friend out. StarfireRaven friendship.


Sick Day

By Eternal Luna

I do not own Teen Titans

"Lalalalalala" Talking

(Lalalalalala) thoughts

Summary: Starfire's sick, but the boys still need to go grocery shopping. So now Raven must watch Starfire, who is delirious and beginning to weird her poor friend out. Starfire/Raven friendship.

The first thing Starfire noticed when she woke up was that she didn't feel well at all. Her throat was as dry as Death Valley, the palms of her hands as well as her forehead were cold and clammy. Sweat poured down her body, but Starfire found herself shivering uncontrollably. Her teeth chattered so intensely that she was sure they would shatter to a million pieces. Yet the blankets surrounding her suddenly felt too heavy and unbearably warm. She sneezed, spraying snot all over her fuchsia bedspread.

"I must be ill." Starfire said to herself. She snuggled deeper into her bed, pulling the covers over her head. She sighed, closing her eyes. They sprang back open as Beast Boy's voice sounded over the intercom.

"Everyone please report to the lounge, we have important business to attend to right now!" he screamed.

Starfire felt like crying. She pulled a pillow over her head. Maybe if she just ignored him. ...

"NOW!!!!!"

Then again, maybe not.

Without bothering to get dressed, Starfire threw her bathrobe on over her pink nightgown and swaggered down to the lounge. She promptly collapsed onto the couch upon arrival. She heard the others come in, but ignored them

"Okay Beast Boy," she heard Robin say. "What's up?"

"Today we have to grocery shopping! There is absolutely no food left in the house!" he declared. "Come on, let's go!" He ran to the door, but stopped dead in front of a very malicious looking Raven.

"This is what you got us all up for?" she said.

"Yes." Beast Boy replied, cowering from her glare. If looks could kill, beast boy would have been six feet under with his property distributed already.

Her left eye twitched. "I'm going back to my room now." She hissed through clenched teeth. Raven began to leave, but then stopped. "Where's Starfire?" She was too used to Starfire's over-perky-hyper personality attacking her first thing in the morning. The idea that Starfire wasn't doing those things could only signal one thing-chaos.

"I am here." Starfire choked. Her throat hurt even more now. The others turned their heads to her.

"Are you okay, Starfire?" Robin asked her. Starfire started to say something, but ended up having a coughing fit.

"You're burning up." Robin noted, putting his hand on Starfire's forehead. Turning back to the others, he announced. "We aren't going shopping today. We have to take care of Starfire."

"But I wasn't kidding when I said we have no food left. Unless you're counting the one half-eaten can of soup and two bags of Raven's herbal tea. But that's it." Beast Boy said. He even pulled several cabintats as well as the refirgirator open to demonstrate.

Robin's brow furrowed. He looked around the room for inspiration before settling his eyes on Raven. Raven saw this, and her eyes widened.

"Oh no." She said, shaking her head and backing up. "I am not babysitting Starfire."

"Raven you have to." Robin said. "It will easy, she'll probably just sleep all day. And besides, all you ever want from the super market is your tea, and we can get that." He reasoned.

"Fine." She grumbled, knowing the only other option was joining Beast Boy and Cyborg, which was a thousand times worse. (Someone had to go and make sure they got acutal food.)At Starfire would probably sleep all day. She might even get to read or medatate in quiet for once. "But before you leave you can clean up that." She pointed to the carpet, where Starfire had thrown up.

HALF AN HOUR LATER

"Okay's she asleep. We're leaving now. DON'T WAKE HER UP." Beast Boy told Raven. She rolled her eyes in response.

"Tell me something I don't know." Raven grumbled dryly.

"Bye." Was the only response. Raven turned away, walking back down to her room. She walked past Starfire's room, and frowned as she heard noise coming from it.

"Starfire, you okay?" she questioned. Sighing, Raven reluctantly entered the bright pink room.

Starfire was awake, apparently. She was sitting on her bed, and talking to her stuffed animals.

"Look! A kitty cat!" she suddenly cried, running to Raven. "I simply adore cats!

"Starfire, get off me now!" Raven said, struggling from Starfire's surprisingly strong grip. "You must be delirious." She said, as Starfire struck up a conversation with the air. She went into the bathroom, and returned with a thermometer.

"Ack! I do not take part in such rituals!" Starfire cried as Raven tried to take her temperature.

"Hold still!" Raven growled, trying not to loose her temper. The stupid thing beeped at last, allowing Raven in pull it from Starfire's mouth.

"105 degrees (Fahrenheit). Oh gosh, that's really bad isn't it?" she said worriedly. Raven ran back to the bathroom, and turned the cold water at Starfire's sink as high as it would go. She soaked a towel, and hurried back to Starfire's room. Upon arrival, the first thing she did was scream in horror. Starfire was playing happily with a pair of scissors, and about to cut a chunk of her long red-gold hair off.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Raven screamed at the delirious girl.

"I am playing hairdresser." She said in an innocent tone. "Shall I style your hair?" Raven scowled and grabbed that scissors.

"Don't play with scissors, Starfire." She said. Raven placed them on a high shelf, hoping Starfire had forgotten in her insanity that she could fly.

Starfire pouted a moment, but then forgot. "Look at that! The room is spinning around me!" she shouted. "This is . . . awesome!"

Raven pulled out her communicator. Dialing the number for Robin's, she prayed he would pick up.

AT THE SUPERMARKET

"Anyone here that ringing?" Robin asked.

"Is it your communicator?" Cyborg asked him.

"Oh, yeah, that." Robin muttered, slightly embarrassed. He hoped nothing was wrong with Starfire. He picked up . . . only to drop it and watch the phone begin to get lost in a sea of feet.

"Uh, guys . . . a little help here?"

THE TOWER

"Robin you idiot! Why can't you even pick up the stupid communicator? Isn't this the reason we have these dumb things? So that we can alert each other when there's an emergency?" Raven screamed in frustration. "Ok, think of a different plan. I have to cool Starfire down. She is completely delirious and will probably hurt her self. Something cold fast...." Raven jumped when she heard something crash.

"Look at the pretty colors!" Ok, definably not a good sign. Starfire was going hurt herself before the day was over.

"Starfire!" Raven called. She found Starfire in her room, and what had crashed was a ceramic thing of some sort.

"Oops." Starfire said, just realizing that she had done something wrong.

"Starfire." Raven felt like screaming. Starfire had not only gone into her bedroom, but she had broken one of her things! She bent over, and could see now that it had been a small black vase, one that her mother had given her a long time ago. It looked fixable, but that didn't change the fact that she was still mad at Starfire.

Raven looked up, ready to blast Starfire. But the look on Starfire's face made her reconsider. She looked ready to start crying, and she had sincere guilt and innocence written all over her face.

"I'm so sorry!" she burst out, sobbing so tragically that Raven immediately felt guilty for her anger. Starfire threw herself at Raven's feet, hugging her legs.

"Mommy, I never meant to break Black fire's flower vase! I truly did not!" she cried. Raven felt like crying too. Of course, why should she have expected that Starfire would be any saner? Still, despite that Starfire was crying over something that had never happened, and she was delirious, Raven still felt guilty.

"Starfire, it's alright. Now come with me, you're delirious and you have got to cool down before you get any sicker." She grabbed Starfire's hand and led her to the bathroom.

(Okay, now to figure out how to get Starfire to actually take the bath). Raven thought. Starfire had been usually quiet, and while it was a pleasant change it was also a frightening one.

"Hey Starfire," Raven said, placing a hand on her shoulder. Starfire jumped before turning to face Raven. "You need to take a bath now." Raven told her.

"I do not want to. I took a bath yesterday." Starfire told her. Raven sighed.

"You have to take a bath, Starfire." She told her.

"If you want me to bathe, you will have to force me to." Starfire told her. The corners of Raven's mouth twitched into a smile.

"That can be arranged." She said. "Azarath, Merithon, Zinthos." She chanted. Two dark orbs appeared over Raven's hands, as well as another one around Starfire. She levitated Starfire, moving her until the red-headed girl was over the bathtub. Raven lowered her, and a small splash was heard as Starfire was dropped fully clothed still into the bathtub.

"Help me!!! I am drowning!" Starfire shouted, flailing her arms and legs.

"YOU ARE NOT DROWNNING." Raven shouted. "This is a bath, Starfire. You have taken baths before. YOU ARE NOT DROWNING." Raven said, gripping Starfire by her shoulders.

"Black fire! Come and swim with me!" Starfire exclaimed. She pulled Raven into the water with her.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Raven sputtered, coughing as the water got in her lung pipes. "Great, now I'm all wet too." Raven grabbed two towels, one for herself and the other for Starfire. She watched as Starfire walked to her room sanely and was able to dry her self off.

Deciding that Starfire would be alright if left alone for a little while, Raven left her and went to her own room, taking only long enough to change. She was worried about Starfire, and found herself running to the room to make sure the ill girl hadn't found a new way to bring harm to herself.

Starfire was watching the air when Raven returned.

"Starfire, what are you doing?" Raven asked nervously. The girl turned to Raven.

"I am watching the dancing bunnies." She said. Raven sighed, and sat down on the edge of the bed. Easy, Robin had said. THIS WAS NOT EASY.

Looking back up, Raven found that Starfire's face had grown very big, and gotten too close for comfort. Raven yelped in surprise.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"I am hungry. Might we eat?" Starfire asked.

"Sure, if there's any food left." Raven said, with a hint of sarcasm. She sat up, and walked from the room. Starfire bounced along behind her.

Raven took the can of soup from the refrigerator, heating it up. She set a kettle, and filled in with water for tea. Yes, tea would help. It would calm her frazzled nerves. Speaking of such . . . perhaps she should try to call Robin and the others again. She awoke from her reverie with a start as the kettle blasted its song. She filled two mugs to the brim with the boiling water, and added the tea bags. She dumped the soup in a bowl, and cautiously carried it over to the table. She set one of the mugs and the bowl of soup in front of Starfire.

Raven sat across from Starfire, sipping her own tea. Starfire was eating sloppily, attacking her meal. Broth was sprayed all over her face.

(Will she ever get better, so I don't have to take care of her?) Raven wondered, beginning to get tired. She reached for a napkin, and began to gently to wipe off Starfire's face.

"That's better." She mumbled. Starfire said nothing, just sipped her tea.

"I am feeling much better." Starfire announced after finishing her tea. Raven nodded. She levitated the dishes, dumping them in the sink.

"I am tired now." Starfire said. She yawned, adding to the effect.

"You should go to bed than." Raven advised her.

"I believe I will." Starfire said. She staggered for a couple of steps, nearly falling over. Raven watched her for a moment, before getting up and taking Starfire's hand.

"Come on, let's get you to bed." Raven said gently. She led the half conscious Starfire to her bedroom, relieved that she was finally tiring. Starfire crawled into her bed, looking as sweet and innocent as a newborn kitten.

"Sweet dreams, Starfire." Raven whispered. Starfire just snuggled deeper into her sheets.

"Finally." Raven exclaimed once she was far from the room. She yawned, stretching like a cat. That extreme babysitting was finally catching up with her. She went over to the window, and levitated. The girl sat Indian style, and began to chant.

"Azarath, Metrion, zinthos," She yawned. The couch behind her looked awfully comforting right now. She glanced at it longingly.

"Well, one little cat nap couldn't hurt." She decided. She walked over to the couch, each step a little lazier. Raven collapsed onto the couch, snuggling into the cushions. She was asleep before her head it the pillow.

TWO HOURS LATER

The boys entered the tower, talking and eating.

"Hey Raven, Starfire, we're back!" Robin called out. He received no response from either girl, and began to get worried. "Raven? Starfire?" He questioned. Cyborg and Beast Boy noticed the unusual silence as well. Not even Raven's typical meditation chant could be heard.

"I'm beginning to get the feeling that something happened to the girls." Beast Boy said worriedly.

"We should first check their rooms." Cyborg said. Robin went to find Starfire, while Cyborg and Beast Boy lagged behind to put anyway groceries and then look for Raven.

Starfire was found peacefully sleeping in her bed, buried deep under layers of her bright pink sheets and blankets. She looked sweet and innocent as a newborn kitten. Robin smiled at her, watching her a moment.

Meanwhile, Cyborg and Beast Boy had wandered into the lounge. They began to put the food away, talking amongst themselves. But they both froze when they heard a quiet sigh-like noise come from the couch. The two stopped what they were doing, and slowly crept towards the couch, careful to keep their steps silent. Their guard was up as they were approaching, unaware of what they would find.

They hid behind the couch, before slowly inching up the side. Prepared to fire at an enemy, they got quite a shock at seeing that it was Raven, fast asleep. Of course, their scream of shock awoke her.

"What's going on?" She shouted after recovering from the scare.

"You scared us!" Beast Boy shouted accusingly.

"And?" she asked, still grumpy about the rude awakening.

"And you shouldn't have done that?" Beast mumbled weakly under her glare. Cyborg had retreated back to the kitchen by now, knowing better that to risk Raven's wrath.

"Besides," he jumped in before she could tell him off. "Weren't you supposed to be babysitting Starfire?"

"I was babysitting Starfire! It was exhausting work!" she claimed.

"Sure. . ." Beast Boy said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"She was delirious! She thought I was her sister! She was hallucinating!" Raven stopped now, seeing that he clearly thought she was exaggerating.

"I'll be in my room." She growled. She would have yelled some more, but looking after Starfire really had wore her out. She walked to her room, and then collapsed onto her bed into a very deep sleep.

ONE WEEK LATER

The sun was setting over the city. Robin and Starfire were cooking popcorn while Cyborg and Beast Boy argued over what movie to watch. Raven sat in her room, levitated a few inches off her bed. Her eyes were closed, but her head was unusually tilted slightly downwards.

"Azarath. . . Yawn. . . .Metrion. . . Sigh . . . Zinthos. . .Ahchoo!" Raven sneezed, causing her to fall from her perch. She sat up on her bed, and looked around. Hmm, that was funny. The room was spinning. Her head throbbed, and her throat hurt like hell. A wave of nausea washed over her, and the girl came to a conclusion. She had caught Starfire's disease.

The NEXT DAY

"That's funny." Robin murmured to himself.

"What is comical?" Starfire asked as she ate her breakfast.

"Nothing, Starfire, never mind." He told the girl.

"No, really, what is it? I wish to understand your ways." Starfire said sincerely.

"Well, I'm just saying it's weird that Raven isn't up yet. It's almost 10:30." He said worriedly. "And she didn't come to the movie last night either, come to think of it. We should go check on her." Without waiting to hear Starfire's comments, he got up and walked down the hall. No sound came from Cyborg's room, although there was a soft snoring sound coming from Beast Boy's.

He knocked quietly on Raven's door, waiting patiently for her to tell him off for disturbing her meditation. But no one called out. He opened the door, hoping she wouldn't be too angry. Looking at the scene before him, he deducted that the dark girl had had a pretty tough night.

Her sheets were strewn all over the floor, with a single thin sheet covering Raven, who was shivering. She looked bad, her face pale but cold and clammy to the touch. He felt her forehead, and she was burning up.

"Can I help you?" She asked, awaking. Robin jumped, not expecting her.

"You're sick. You must have caught whatever Starfire had the other day." He told her. "Go back to bed, you should rest."

"I'm fine." She began to argue. Then she sneezed three times, and then felt another wave of nausea pass over her. Her stomach churned, waging a war. Raven's face turned a pale shade of green, and she fled to the bathroom. The sounds of vomiting were heard, and she returned a few minutes later. Robin raised an eyebrow at her.

"Okay, maybe I am sick." She mumbled.

LATER

"Hold still!" Beast Boy commanded Raven. It did him no good at all. Raven resisted him, fighting like a wildcat. He was trying to take her temperature . . . for the sixth time in ten minutes.

"Damn, still 100.9. You must be pretty sick." He told her.

"Get out of my room. No one is supposed to be in my room." Raven demanded.

"Robin said that we're supposed to take care of you. . ." His voice trailed, due to the fact that her glare could turn the sweetest candy sour.

"I. Said. Leave. Now." She growled through clenched teeth. "Otherwise, I will throw you into a very dark and scary dimension, where you will experience a slow, painful death."

Looking frightened, Beast Boy backed out of the room, stuttering apologies. Raven watched the door close from her bed, then sneezed. Groaning to frustration, the girl slipped under the covers. She pulled the blankets over her head, and wondered whether it was worth it to make someone come in here and knock her out. Poor Raven was so miserable. She made a mental note about killing Beast Boy slowly and painfully when she was feeling better. She wanted to cry when she heard a knock on the door. Why couldn't anyone just leave her alone?

"What do you want with me!?!?" She screamed at whoever dared disrupt her rest.

"My apologies for disturbing you, Raven." Starfire said. Starfire cringed as though she had been slapped across the face. She looked hurt, and Raven felt like she had just kicked a battered puppy.

"Sorry Starfire, I think getting sick has me in a worse mood than usual. That and Beast Boy being a jerk, I think I'll kill him when I'm better. Ahchoo!" She sneezed. Yeah, that was going to annoy her all day long.

"Perhaps I can keep you company awhile. I am the cause of your illness, after all." Starfire said.

"Um, sure, alright." Raven said uneasily.

"Most excellent!" Starfire said. "Shall I go retrieve the tracker of the heat of the body?"

"NO!" Raven shouted. Someone would get very, very, hurt if they tried to take her temperature again.

"Shall I read some poetry to you?" Starfire asked after moment, remembering that her friend enjoyed that form of writing.

"Sure, you can use that book." Raven pointed to the one on her night stand. She rested her head against the soft comfort of her pillow. Ah, yes, much kinder than Beast Boy had been earlier.

She closed her eyes as Starfire began to read aloud. "Once upon a midnight dreary, as I pondered weak and weary. . ."

Ten minutes later, Starfire finished reading the poem and looked to Raven, only to see her friend deeply asleep. However, as soon as she got up Raven's eyes flew open.

"Leaving already?" she asked. Starfire turned around, embarrassed.

"I thought you were asleep." Starfire said accusingly.

"I wasn't. I was just resting my eyes." Raven countered.

"Your eyes were snoring very loudly." Starfire commented. Raven glared and stuck her tongue out at the alien princess, whose sole comment was to giggle.

"Raven, I recall that when I was ill, I came into your room and something crashed. What crashed?" Starfire asked. She cocked her head in an innocent way. Raven shifted her weight uncomfortably.

"It was a vase." She said at last. "One that my mother gave to me a long time ago."

"I am deeply sorry Raven; I should not have done that." Starfire hung her head in shame.

"Its fine, Starfire. You didn't know what you were doing, you were really sick." Raven comforted her.

"No, Raven. It is not alright. I did not have permission to enter you room, nor did I respect your property." Starfire said rather gravely. "I must make it up to you."

Before Raven could argue farther, Starfire flew out of the room. At first, Raven was worried that she had upset Starfire. She even considered chasing her down. But that proved not to be necessary when Starfire re-entered the room moments later.

"Here Raven." Starfire said, holding out a badly wrapped package to her friend. "A gift, to replace what I broke."

"Thank you." Raven said, slightly stunned. On one hand, she felt guilty for taking it, but Raven also knew that Starfire would be hurt if she refused.

Unwrapping the package, Raven allowed one of her rare smiles to shine through.

"It's beautiful, Starfire." She breathed. The new vase was made of sea glass that the teens had collected on a trip to the beach not so long ago. The main body of the vase was black, but little pieces of clear and colored glass were embedded into it. She held it above her head, allowing it to catch the light.

"I am so glad you like it." Starfire said happily. She pulled Raven into one of her infamous lung crashing hugs, but for once Raven didn't tell Starfire to get off of her and even hugged her back just a bit.

Unfortunately, the moment was ruined when Raven sneezed again.

"Friend Raven, you are still ill. You must resume sleeping at once." Starfire said. She gently pushed Raven back into her pillows and pulled the covers up to her neck. Raven rolled her eyes, but she allowed for it and even chuckled a bit.

"Fine, I'll go back to sleep but you had better not leave me, alright?" Raven said.

"Agreed. Now please go back to sleep." Starfire said. Raven sunk into her dark blue pillows. The pale skin of her eyelids now hid her indigo eyes.

Starfire sat there a while, running her fingers through Raven's hair every now and then. When she was sure that the other girl was truly asleep, Starfire dared to leave.

She panicked slightly when she heard Raven turn beneath her blankets. "Starfire?" She questioned sleepily.

"Yes?" Starfire asked nervously.

"Are you leaving now?"

"Yes."

"Alright." Raven lay back down. "Bye Starfire." And then she murmured something that Starfire didn't quite catch.

"My apologies, what did you say Raven?" she asked.

"Love ya." Raven answered her, only half-conisious at this point. Starfire left the room quietly, and closed the door with total silence. But once outside, she let out a squeal of delight. She smiled as she left, beaming with happiness.

You didn't have to understand Earth customs to know that it was kind gesture, and coming from cold, private Raven it was an even kinder one. Starfire smiled, it was nice to know she had a friend in Raven. She was happy, despite the little voices in her head that cried that Raven said this only out of fever. She gazed out the window, where the noon sun hung high in the sky.

Perhaps it wasn't too early to go to the mall of shopping. Besides, she was sure that when Raven woke up it would take a lot of tea to make her forget about killing Beast Boy. . .


End file.
